Roles - which ones are you playing?

From time to time, looking at the roles we are currently playing in life and as a leader, is a valuable way to check if we have our priorities right..  

Personal effectiveness (Life overall) approach

First, we look at the top 8 roles you think you play in life, and evaluate each on a scale of 1-10 (10 being that you play that role incredibly well, 1 being you dont have any idea how to play this role well).  Think both formal roles and informal roles.  Here are some answers I have heard from clients: Taxi driver (for family), Bank-o-mat money distributor, Neighbour, Carer, Clown, Stress-buster.

Secondly, we look at the top 7 or 8 roles you would like to be playing in life and use the same scale to measure where you are on them.  The two lists are not usually the same! And on the second list, we usually have to add one about caring for self. 

Third, we compare the two and figure out where each person wants to focus in the next few months. It could be focusing on brining in a new role that you dont play right now, or perhaps getting better at a current role you play. 

Leadership version

The exercise is exactly the same, but instead of life roles, we zoom in to the roles you play every day, both formal and informal) in your current job as a leader in your organisation. 

This is not about Daniel Goleman's 6 styles of leadership (although the two topics are very linked).  This is about the different hats you wear as a leader.  Some typical roles I see leaders play are:

• Parent
• Friend
• Coach
• Therapist
• Police 
• Ghost
• Expert
• Teacher
• Visionary
• Guide
• Guru
• Protector
• Judge
• Task master
• Report writer
• Manipulator
• Influencer
• Mediator
• Referree
• ?? 

Take a moment and think about the last week, what roles showed up?  Which roles (again, formal and informal roles ) surprised you by their presence or their absence? What was the impact of those roles? 

What one small shift in which roles or how the roles show up, would help you and your team perform at a higher level?